INTERVENTION BY THE HOLY SEE AT THE SECOND SPECIAL SESSION
OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ON THE SITUATION IN LEBANON

ADDRESS OF H.E. MONS. SILVANO M. TOMASI, C.S.*

GenevaFriday, 11 August 2006

Mr. Chairman,

1. Once again the violation of human rights led to insecurity
and conflict in Lebanon and in the Middle East Region in a vicious cycle that
continues to disrupt peaceful coexistence. The Holy See is convinced that this
vicious cycle can be broken if reason, good will, trust in others,
implementation of commitments, and cooperation between responsible partners are
allowed to prevail.

An immediate first step of such an ethical approach, in line
with international law standards, requires an immediate cease-fire, first of all
to help and protect the civilian population and their basic human rights.

2. The violence of these weeks is destroying a promising model
of national conviviality, built over centuries, where a plurality of
communities, even of very different religious convictions, learned that the only
way to live in peace and security and to use their human resources and diversity
in a creative way, is dialogue and close cooperation. The whole region could
benefit by implementing this model in a successful way and thus open up a future
of hope.

3. The Holy Father Benedict XVI, while reaffirming that peace is
a gift from God, has repeatedly called for an immediate cease-fire, for the
opening of humanitarian corridors to bring help to the suffering populations
whose human right to life, food, health, water, housing, is now a priority, and
for a prompt start of reasonable and responsible negotiations to finally end
objective situations of injustice existing in the region.

4. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights reminds us that
peace is the basic condition for the respect and enjoyment of all human rights.
In this context, the Lebanese people have a right to the integrity and
sovereignty of their country; the Israeli people have a right to live in peace
in their own State; and the Palestinian people have a right to have a free and
sovereign homeland.

5. Before the current drama in the Middle East, the
international community cannot be indifferent or neutral. Solutions, however,
cannot be improvised at the whim of conquest by either side. And may law never
reach the point of sanctioning result obtained by force alone. That would be the
ruin of civilization, the defeat of international law, and a fatal example for
other areas in the region and , in fact, for the world.

In conclusion, Mr. President, the Holy See is deeply convinced
that no just and durable solution can be reached by recourse to terrorism or
armed conflict and only dialogue is the way to peace and to the safeguard of
human rights.